Public Health Program

Drawing on the studies and consultations carried out for the Expansion Project in 2007, THPC developed a Public Health Action Plan in 2008, designed to improve health services and awareness of health issues among the various groups of people affected by the project. Under agreements with the Hinboun and Khamkeut District Health Offices, the plan aims to provide:

Better nutrition and lower rates of anaemia in women of child bearing age

Education to lower the transmission of communicable diseases including STDs and HIV/AIDS, and to reduce the risk of road accidents

Improved access to health services for all project-affected people

Under the Expansion Project, 11 clinics were built in new villages and THPC worked closely with the local authorities to ensure that these new clinics were accompanied by improved skills, systems and attitudes so that health services could continue to develop in the long run. The project health program was gradually handed over to the district services as part of the overall strategy of guaranteeing local ownership.

Mother-and-Child outreach services provided under the program covered over 100 villages, bringing pre- and post-natal checks for mothers and babies, growth monitoring for children, health education, and immunization.

To help villagers get full value from their new water supply and toilets, a community program on hygiene and nutrition practices was also conducted. To give people a better understanding of how their most common health problems can be prevented, community educators held discussions and demonstrations on the links between behaviour and illness, offering home-based solutions. For example, the team organised cooking classes for mothers of young children, showing women how to combine locally available ingredients to provide a more varied, protein and vitamin rich diet to their families. The importance of latrine use, hand washing and clean utensils was also emphasised through a Water, Sanitation, Hygiend and Nutrition programme.

THPC conducted health monitors in each village so that knowledge of each community's special needs was available. Vulnerable families and individuals with special health problems were identified in each village and their welfare closely monitored. Individual solutions to their challenges have at various times been possible, using company resources.